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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Averting disaster more important than posturing

By NEWS SENTINEL EDITORIAL BOARD

Congress is teetering on the edge of an economic precipice and threatening to plunge the whole country into the abyss.

Republicans and Democrats must come up with an agreement to raise the debt limit by Aug. 2 to stave off default on America’s financial obligations. According to the White House, the deal has to be in place by Friday so Congress will have time to actually pass the legislation in time to meet the deadline.

Several scenarios have been floated, with the most recent one to gain traction being a proposal in the Senate to save $3.7 trillion over the next 10 years through a combination of deep budget cuts and about $1 trillion in new tax revenues realized by closing loopholes while reducing rates. President Barack Obama has endorsed the bi-partisan package, as have leading Republicans such as U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

At this point, any deal is better than no deal. That’s the unfortunate reality that economists have been saying for weeks and some politicos are just now acknowledging.